I Just Want to Love You
by The Queen of Double Standards
Summary: Poor Haku is always being mocked for her Voyakiloid status, and over the time, she's started accepting all the bad things said about her as the truth. Luckily, Neru is there to protect her, no matter how annoyingly insecure Haku may be. HakuxNeru Oneshot


I Just Want to Love You

_I just wanna love you_

_I don't wanna change you or judge you_

_I just wanna love you_

_But darling_

_You have to learn to love you too_

-The Stranger Familiar, "I Just Want to Love You"

As the other Vocaloids erupted into a fit of laughter, Haku's face turned beet red in humiliation. Today was the first day she'd finally agreed to sing for everyone. She'd always refused until know because she'd known this would be their reaction. After all, they were all perfect singers, every single one of them. Miku could hit such high notes, Luka could sing such mature songs, Gakupo had a distinctly unique voice, Gumi sound so _human_, and even one of the newer members of the group, Seeu, had a gorgeous voice. Then, there was Haku.

"Are you seriously a Vocaloid?" laughed Mew, another new Vocaloid. "If that's a Vocaloid, I'm afraid to hear myself sing."

Haku laughed along, no matter how much the comment stung, and replied, "Actually, I'm a Voyakiloid. I'm not really meant to sound good."

"Yeah, she's my failed version," Miku supplied, though she was laughing just as much as the rest of them and didn't seem to be saying it to defend Haku. "People just liked her enough that she was made official."

"Do I have a failed version?" Gumi wondered eagerly. "'Cause I'd totally wanna hear what she sounds like!"

"Haku's the only official failure," replied Piko. Then he noticed that Rin and Iroha were gazing at him curiously. Growing self-conscious, he exclaimed, "What?"

"Well, you kinda look like Haku," replied Rin on behalf of the two. "With the white hair and all."

"We were basically just wondering if you were a Failloid too," said Iroha.

"Voyakiloid, actually," Haku corrected, but no one was listening.

"I am not!" shouted Piko. "Have you heard me sing?"

Everyone went quiet. Then, Miki said, "I don't believe we have."

Piko sat there quietly for a moment. Then, he questioned, "So you all spend almost all your time on NicoNicoDouga, scouting out competition, and none of you have heard me sing?"

Everyone was quiet. Then, Len offered, "I heard you sing Magnet with yourself."

Piko stared at him in disbelief. "Seriously, that's all? And how is that even possible? Ugh, that's it, I'm singing, now. Haku, gimme the mic."

Haku gloomily handed him the mic and sat down. And, as expected, Piko completely outshone her. He was amazing. No one could question it. His voice was phenomenal, just like everyone else's. Everyone's but hers, that was.

Everyone applauded when Piko was done. Luna and Lily whistled at him and Meiko and Kaito shouted for an encore. Piko gracefully left the stage, leaving the mic in its stand.

"So, who's the Failloid now?" he asked Rin.

"Voyakiloid," murmured Haku, disconsolate.

"That'd still be Haku," giggled Ring.

"She's makes Vocaloid1 look amazing," laughed Kaito.

"Okay, next one to say a bad thing about Haku gets a phone shoved up someplace very uncomfortable."

Everyone stopped talking to look at Neru, who had just entered the room. A permanent scowl curled on her lips and she had her hands on her hips as she glared at them all.

"We're just joking around, Neru," sighed Lui.

"It's not just joking around to Haku," retorted Neru. "You guys are bullying her, jerks. Can't you see how much it must hurt her for you guys to talk about her like that?"

"You're just overly sensitive because you're a Failloid, too," said Miku.

"Okay, first, there's no such thing as a Failloid. I'm a Boukaloid, Haku is a Voyakiloid. Second, shut up, green-head, no one cares what you say. Third, all of you, think before you speak and take responsibility for your actions." Neru turned her sharp gaze to Haku. "Come on, Haku." When Haku hesitated, she ordered, "_Now_."

Haku got up quickly and followed Neru out of the room. As they walked, Neru wondered, "Why do you take that?"

Haku stared at her curiously, "Take what?"

Neru glared at her. "That abuse. They're horrible. You can't really like them saying that."

Haku shrugged. "I can't argue with it. They're right. I'm just a failure of Miku. It's just my fate. I hate my horrible voice, but what can I do?"

Neru stared at her then said, "Why didn't you tell me you were going to sing?"

Haku turned her head away, ashamed. "I don't want you to hear me sing. I'm awful."

Neru frowned at her. "I don't care if you're the worst singer in the world, Haku. I still want to hear you."

Haku laughed. "That's easy for you to say. You're voice is just as pretty as everyone else's. Mine is terrible. You could still be a regular Vocaloid if you wanted to. They could give you a voice, like Cul."

Neru rolled her eyes. "I don't care about being a Vocaloid. What's so great about being one, anyway? They're all stupid, anyway. The green-haired diva, the yellow-haired under-aged drivers, the drunken frenzy woman, the ice cream-obsessed man. Do you really want to be clumped in with those freaks?"

Haku smiled wistfully and nodded. "I want to be a Vocaloid more than anything. That's why I'm going to keep training and training until I sing so well that I can be a Vocaloid, too."

Neru frowned at her, discontent with that answer. "Well, I wouldn't change anything about you, even your voice. You shouldn't want to either."

They fell silent after that because Haku had no idea what to say. Neru didn't understand. She was gorgeous and her voice was so pretty that everyone loved her despite her rude, tomboyish demeanour. She could never understand what it was that made Haku want to improve her voice so much. She didn't know how much being a Voyakiloid sucked. Haku had to get better. She wasn't pretty, her voice was awful, and she was perpetually gloomy. What did she have going for her?

. . .

Haku had borrowed some sheet music from Miku to practice singing, but she couldn't sight-sing, unlike the Vocaloids, so she had to sit down and play the melody on the piano before she could start singing. Then, when she tried to sing, she found it too hard to concentrate on singing and playing the piano at the same time.

"What are you doing?"

Haku jumped and looked up at Neru, who leaned against the open door and stared at her.

"Just practising," Haku replied skittishly.

Neru stared at the piano. "Well, you're never going to accomplish anything if you're stumbling over the piano."

"I, um, need it," said Haku, embarrassed. "I can't really sing just from looking at it like everyone else. I guess that's something else I need to practice." Haku laughed self-consciously.

Neru glared at her for a second and then walked over and sat on the other end of the piano bench. "Can you even play piano?" Neru questioned.

Haku laughed, ashamed, and said, "Not really."

Neru rolled her eyes. "Idiot. How can you expect to play the melody if you can't even play the piano?"

Haku confessed, "I was just gonna—"

"Try until you got it, I know," Neru finished. "You _can_ ask for help sometimes, you know."

Haku shook her head. "Oh no. I could never ask anyone that. Everyone is so good that they shouldn't be wasting time with someone as awful as me."

Neru let out an annoyed groan. "Geez, stop saying that, won't you? Being good at singing isn't everything. There's plenty of other things about you than your lack of musical talent."

Haku knew Neru would never understand, no matter how many times she explained. "No, there isn't. Singing is everything."

Neru stared at her, annoyed, for a moment before turned her eyes to the sheet music. "Whatever. Do you know where middle C is?"

"Um, no," said Haku.

Neru hissed. "God, you're hopeless."

Haku sighed. "I know."

Neru glared at her again. "Not like that."

Haku smiled sadly at Neru. "Yes like that. I'm completely hopeless."

"Shut up," snapped Neru, turning back to the piano and pressing down on one key. "This is middle C." She moved her finger one to the right. "So then what's this?"

"I don't know," said Haku, hanging her head.

"It's D, idiot! Ugh, this is gonna take forever!"

. . .

"Okay, you got it now?" Neru questioned.

Haku nodded. After many gruesome hours, finally, she had memorized the melody. She was ready to sing it. She looked at Neru and said, "I'm fine now. Thanks."

"You better be. Well, now that you've got that, I'm gonna play for you so you can focus on singing, okay?"

Haku froze. No way. She shook her head rapidly. No way would she let Neru listen to her horrible voice.

Neru glared at her. "What? You're just going to kick me out after I did all this work for you?"

Haku bowed her head. "Sorry."

Neru snorted at her and stood up violently, making the bench squeak against the floor. Haku cringed as the other girl glared at her. "Fine then." Before leaving, Neru stopped at the door and turned to her. "I'm serious, Haku. I couldn't give a crap whether you sound like a dying whale or not. I just want to hear you sing."

Haku gave Neru that sad smile and shook her head. "No, you don't."

Neru persisted. "Haku, I'm not like everyone else. I'm not going to mock you about how bad your voice is."

_I know_, Haku thought. _You're different from everyone else. That's exactly why I don't want you to hear me sing._

"I still don't want you to hear me," Haku said aloud.

Neru glared at her, more sour-faced than Haku had ever seen before. "Fine," she snapped. "But I don't know how much longer I can deal with this, Haku. I love you more than anyone else, but I have no idea how much longer I can keep loving someone who hates everything about herself, the same things I love about her."

Then, Neru stormed out. Haku watched her go sadly. There was another thing wrong with Haku. Everything she did seemed to annoy Neru. Haku looked back at the seat Neru had vacated and began to play to piano and sing in her awful voice, making the bright, upbeat song sound painfully melancholic.

. . .

Haku took a deep breath and walked up to Neru, who was busying harassing the new Vocaloids. Neru turned to her and glared. Haku winced and held out a booklet of paper. Neru looked at it suspiciously.

"It's a duet," said Haku. "I wanted to sing it with you."

"You do realize I'd have to hear you sing to sing a duet with you, right?" Neru questioned.

Haku gave a tiny nod.

Neru narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "And you're completely serious about this?"

Haku nodded again.

Then, a smile lit Neru's face, completely contrary to her character, startling the new Vocaloids so badly that the fled the scene and pushed the thought out of their minds for all eternity. "Well," said Neru. "Let's go sing."

Haku smiled in return, a happy smile for once. "Yeah."

**Author's Note: How fluffy :) So this is a song fic based on an English song "I Just Want to Love You" by The Strange Familiar. I heard the song at like 10 o' clock at night and was like "Oh my gosh, this is so Haku and Neru!" and decided to write this fic but now I'm tired and I'm gonna fall asleep during class tomorrow. Oh well, I liked writing this. Please review!**


End file.
